zombieBUELLer
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2007
- Messages
- 127
By Rick Barrett
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MILWAUKEE — Erik Buell has always been unconventional, from talking his way into a job at Harley-Davidson Inc. to building a monstrous race bike that was terrifying to ride.
Now, the founder of Buell Motorcycle Co. has introduced a bike that he’s imagined for almost 20 years but previously lacked money and time to develop.
The Buell 1125R is a wickedly fast street bike that motorcycle magazines are calling one of the hottest machines for 2008.
It’s also the first large Buell without a Harley engine, which is significant given that Harley-Davidson owns Buell Motorcycle Co.
The 1125R sports a liquid-cooled V-twin engine made in Austria by BRP, a Canadian company that also makes Johnson and Evinrude outboard boat engines in Sturtevant, Wis.
In an interview, Buell said Harley executives encouraged him to seek an outside engine supplier because Harley was too busy with its own projects.
Had he waited, Buell said, the 1125R might have stayed on the drawing board another seven years.
“This is a brand new motorcycle from the rider down,” Buell said. With a little luck, it will give the company a bigger share of the U.S. and European sport bike market that’s dominated by motorcycle manufacturers such as Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki.
Judging from the numbers, Buell could use the boost. The boutique motorcycle company shipped 12,460 bikes in 2006 compared with Harley’s nearly 4.6 million.
Buell’s sales are strongest in Europe, where street bikes with Italian pedigrees share the narrow roads with Ferraris.
Unlike Harleys, which are made for cruising down the highway, sport bikes are made for crouching and leaning into tight turns.
After testing the 1125R on a California race track, Canadian motorcycle writer David Booth described the bike this way: “Any motorcycle that makes me feel both fast and comfortable at high speeds has to be the bike of the year. If I were looking to buy a track weapon, it would be a Buell 1125R.”
Buell, 57, has spent his entire adult life building and racing motorcycles. Raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, he was a motorcycle mechanic who earned an engineering degree through night classes at the University of Pittsburgh.
Shortly after graduation, in 1979, Buell landed a job with Harley after he flew to Milwaukee to get an interview with the company.
“I beat my way into the door,” Buell said in his Motorcycle Hall of Fame biography.
The early 1980s were a dark period for Harley as it went through heavy layoffs and barely avoided bankruptcy.
In 1983, the company petitioned the government for a five-year tariff on imported heavyweight motorcycles, giving it temporary relief from the competition.
Buell dodged the layoffs but quit to develop a sport bike based on a British engine that had massive power but little finesse.
“This thing was a monster. It was terrifying to ride,” Buell said in his Motorcycle Hall of Fame biography.
Buell left Harley on good terms, which was important considering that the world’s largest manufacturer of heavyweight motorcycles would later buy his company, where he’s now chairman and chief technical officer.
Harley isn’t making much money on Buell, but it’s probably not losing anything either, said analyst Tim Conder with Wachovia Securities.
Long term, Harley stands to benefit from owning Buell as it attempts to resonate with the next generation of motorcyclists. Harley uses a mid-size Buell for its Rider’s Edge training program aimed at new riders and women.
The original plan for the 1125R called for a liquid-cooled engine used in Harley’s V-Rod, a high-performance bike with Porsche engineering.
But the V-Rod is bigger and heavier than the 1125R, and the two bikes don’t have much in common.
“The needs that Harley had were so different that we finally threw in the towel after a couple of years. They knew that we needed another engine, so they let us go,” Buell said.
BRP developed the 1125R engine based on Buell’s specifications. At 146 horsepower, it’s competitive with some of the fastest Japanese motorcycles.
“On all but the very fastest tracks, this is one made-in-Milwaukee product that easily holds up to the best from Japan and Italy,” Booth wrote.
The 1125R, selling for about $12,000, has been available only a few months.
Unlike Harley, Buell Motorcycle Co. doesn’t have a lot of money for advertising.
“The only way that we can do it is through the press,” Buell said. “And by being innovative, we can build bikes that are competitively priced.”
(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)
Some Harley dealerships won’t carry Buell motorcycles because the bikes don’t appeal to their traditional customers. But the 1125R has generated a lot of buzz among motorcyclists who otherwise wouldn’t set foot in a Harley dealership.
“Until now, we really haven’t had a (Buell) product that goes head to head with sport bikes from other manufacturers,” said Kirk Topel, president of Hal’s Harley-Davidson in New Berlin, Wis.
Hal’s has one 1125R on its showroom floor. That bike is already sold, and the dealership is taking orders for others.
“I have been amazed at how many people have come to see it,” Topel said.
The 1125R is Buell’s largest project, and was designed from a clean sheet of paper with Erik Buell’s signature all over it.
“If I had done this bike 19 years ago, as I wanted to, it wouldn’t have been nearly this good,” Buell said.
Sport bikes comprise about one-third of U.S. motorcycle sales and two-thirds of European sales. Buell hopes the 1125R, with its high-tech engine and boutique branding, will attract racers and riders who hang out at the track.
“They are kind of like bell cows. They’re the riders that others turn to,” Buell said.
———
(c) 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Visit JSOnline, the Journal Sentinel’s World Wide Web site, at http://www.jsonline.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MILWAUKEE — Erik Buell has always been unconventional, from talking his way into a job at Harley-Davidson Inc. to building a monstrous race bike that was terrifying to ride.
Now, the founder of Buell Motorcycle Co. has introduced a bike that he’s imagined for almost 20 years but previously lacked money and time to develop.
The Buell 1125R is a wickedly fast street bike that motorcycle magazines are calling one of the hottest machines for 2008.
It’s also the first large Buell without a Harley engine, which is significant given that Harley-Davidson owns Buell Motorcycle Co.
The 1125R sports a liquid-cooled V-twin engine made in Austria by BRP, a Canadian company that also makes Johnson and Evinrude outboard boat engines in Sturtevant, Wis.
In an interview, Buell said Harley executives encouraged him to seek an outside engine supplier because Harley was too busy with its own projects.
Had he waited, Buell said, the 1125R might have stayed on the drawing board another seven years.
“This is a brand new motorcycle from the rider down,” Buell said. With a little luck, it will give the company a bigger share of the U.S. and European sport bike market that’s dominated by motorcycle manufacturers such as Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki.
Judging from the numbers, Buell could use the boost. The boutique motorcycle company shipped 12,460 bikes in 2006 compared with Harley’s nearly 4.6 million.
Buell’s sales are strongest in Europe, where street bikes with Italian pedigrees share the narrow roads with Ferraris.
Unlike Harleys, which are made for cruising down the highway, sport bikes are made for crouching and leaning into tight turns.
After testing the 1125R on a California race track, Canadian motorcycle writer David Booth described the bike this way: “Any motorcycle that makes me feel both fast and comfortable at high speeds has to be the bike of the year. If I were looking to buy a track weapon, it would be a Buell 1125R.”
Buell, 57, has spent his entire adult life building and racing motorcycles. Raised on a farm in Pennsylvania, he was a motorcycle mechanic who earned an engineering degree through night classes at the University of Pittsburgh.
Shortly after graduation, in 1979, Buell landed a job with Harley after he flew to Milwaukee to get an interview with the company.
“I beat my way into the door,” Buell said in his Motorcycle Hall of Fame biography.
The early 1980s were a dark period for Harley as it went through heavy layoffs and barely avoided bankruptcy.
In 1983, the company petitioned the government for a five-year tariff on imported heavyweight motorcycles, giving it temporary relief from the competition.
Buell dodged the layoffs but quit to develop a sport bike based on a British engine that had massive power but little finesse.
“This thing was a monster. It was terrifying to ride,” Buell said in his Motorcycle Hall of Fame biography.
Buell left Harley on good terms, which was important considering that the world’s largest manufacturer of heavyweight motorcycles would later buy his company, where he’s now chairman and chief technical officer.
Harley isn’t making much money on Buell, but it’s probably not losing anything either, said analyst Tim Conder with Wachovia Securities.
Long term, Harley stands to benefit from owning Buell as it attempts to resonate with the next generation of motorcyclists. Harley uses a mid-size Buell for its Rider’s Edge training program aimed at new riders and women.
The original plan for the 1125R called for a liquid-cooled engine used in Harley’s V-Rod, a high-performance bike with Porsche engineering.
But the V-Rod is bigger and heavier than the 1125R, and the two bikes don’t have much in common.
“The needs that Harley had were so different that we finally threw in the towel after a couple of years. They knew that we needed another engine, so they let us go,” Buell said.
BRP developed the 1125R engine based on Buell’s specifications. At 146 horsepower, it’s competitive with some of the fastest Japanese motorcycles.
“On all but the very fastest tracks, this is one made-in-Milwaukee product that easily holds up to the best from Japan and Italy,” Booth wrote.
The 1125R, selling for about $12,000, has been available only a few months.
Unlike Harley, Buell Motorcycle Co. doesn’t have a lot of money for advertising.
“The only way that we can do it is through the press,” Buell said. “And by being innovative, we can build bikes that are competitively priced.”
(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)
Some Harley dealerships won’t carry Buell motorcycles because the bikes don’t appeal to their traditional customers. But the 1125R has generated a lot of buzz among motorcyclists who otherwise wouldn’t set foot in a Harley dealership.
“Until now, we really haven’t had a (Buell) product that goes head to head with sport bikes from other manufacturers,” said Kirk Topel, president of Hal’s Harley-Davidson in New Berlin, Wis.
Hal’s has one 1125R on its showroom floor. That bike is already sold, and the dealership is taking orders for others.
“I have been amazed at how many people have come to see it,” Topel said.
The 1125R is Buell’s largest project, and was designed from a clean sheet of paper with Erik Buell’s signature all over it.
“If I had done this bike 19 years ago, as I wanted to, it wouldn’t have been nearly this good,” Buell said.
Sport bikes comprise about one-third of U.S. motorcycle sales and two-thirds of European sales. Buell hopes the 1125R, with its high-tech engine and boutique branding, will attract racers and riders who hang out at the track.
“They are kind of like bell cows. They’re the riders that others turn to,” Buell said.
———
(c) 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Visit JSOnline, the Journal Sentinel’s World Wide Web site, at http://www.jsonline.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
